Keeping Your Thumb Green during the Winter with Houseplants

Now that your backyard garden is put to bed, do you still need to nurture plants? Well, you’re in luck because you can now focus your green thumb on winter houseplants.

Best Low Maintenance Winter Houseplants

Since many winter houseplants come from the tropics or are succulents from arid climates, they come with different watering needs. We’ve come up with 15 low maintenance winter houseplants for you with their varying water needs:

Aloe Vera: This succulent plant is low-maintenance but does its best by a sunny window without drafts. Keep the soil moist but not soggy. Plus, aloe doesn’t like wet feet by sitting in a dish of water.

Cactus: If you don’t mind plants with spikes that can give a nasty poke, you can’t go wrong with the cactus. It’s low-maintenance: it needs bright light with no drafts, doesn’t mind low humidity, and doesn’t need much water.

Cast-iron plant: This hardy plant can handle drier homes over the winter, and it’s long-lasting and low maintenance.

Corn plant: Another easy winter houseplant needs indirect light and doesn’t like drafts. You can tell when you’re over-watering a corn plant because its leaves will turn yellow and drop.

Check its moisture needs once a week by poking your finger into the soil. If it feels dry, then water the corn plant.

Croton: This winter houseplant will grow with bright light, and the soil will stay moist. Its colorful and variegated leaves will drop if exposed to a chilly draft. It grows well in rooms that reach 70ºF to 80ºF with humidity.

Dracaena: This easy-to-grow plant enjoys low humidity and direct sunlight.

Learn more: How to Make Compost for Your Backyard Garden and Lawn

Dragon tree: This woody plant prefers a sunny location and doesn’t like wet feet. Make sure it’s not sitting in any standing water.

Jade plant: This plant gets prettier as it ages. Jade plants prefer average room temperature, indirect light, and little water.

Moth orchid: Orchids can be tricky to grow, but the moth orchid is more forgiving than other species. This orchid needs filtered light, average soil, and moisture. It blooms for months with little care from you.

Peace lily: This tropical houseplant will give you peace because it’s easy to grow and it’s low maintenance. The peace lily needs bright, indirect light with moist, but not soggy, soil.

Philodendrons: Another low-maintenance plant, philodendrons do well in indirect light. These winter houseplants prefer moist soil, so when the top inch of soil is dry, it’s time to water them. Prune when the plant gets too long and put the cuttings in organic soil to start new philodendrons.

Pothos: This hardy winter houseplant prefers indirect light and can handle varying light levels. You may have seen this plant at your local mall, nail salon, or dentist’s office with varying light levels.

Rubber tree: This low-maintenance and easy-to-grow woody plant can reach up to 8’ tall. Prune the long stems to keep the tree’s shape. Check the top layer of soil; if it’s dry, water this houseplant.

Snake plant: Like the other winter houseplants listed, the snake plant is low maintenance. It can grow in direct sun or shade. Snake plants prefer dry air, and it’s the perfect starter plant.

ZZ plant: This plant is another starter plant that doesn’t mind dry conditions. It’s a hardy plant, and it’s low-maintenance. The ZZ isn’t a reference to ZZ Top but Zanzibar in Africa.

You can find many winter houseplants online, but you may save money by shopping at your local, independent garden center (IGC).

While you can buy houseplants in big box stores, be assured that your local IGC team planted and cared for these houseplants in perfect conditions, so you get a healthy specimen.

7 Tips for Caring for Your Winter Houseplants

Your home in the winter will be drier. And there’s less sunlight due to the early days and the low angle of the sun.

While you may have low-maintenance houseplants, they generally prefer 50% humidity and some light. Plus, many of your houseplants will be from the tropics, such as peace lilies and croton, so that they will need some form of humidity.

Here are seven tips for successful houseplant care:

Lessen your watering routine: While most houseplants don’t go into dormancy, they don’t require as much water as they do in the summertime. Do the 2” test by putting the first two finger joints of your index finger into the dirt to see if it’s moist. If it’s dry, then it’s time to water your plants.

Use room temperature water: Don’t use cold water on your winter houseplants because it’ll shock the root system. Instead, put water into your watering can and let it sit for a few hours to reach that tepid temperature.

Invest in a watering can with a long spout: It helps you water the roots directly while keeping water off the plants’ leave and crowns.

Dust your plants: Your plants breathe through their leaves and transpire water and light. Keep them clean with a damp cloth, gently wiping the leaves free from dirt.

Increase a room’s humidity: You can add some humidity through a humidifier, grouping plants together, keeping your plants in the bathroom or kitchen, or putting water in a bowl with pebbles to keep the plants from sitting directly in the water.

Don’t fertilize your plants in the winter: They don’t need the extra nutrients because they aren’t growing.

Rotate your houseplants by a ¼” turn every time you water them: Each part of the plant will get even lighting, so you don’t have spindly shoots grasping for sunlight.

Winter houseplants are a fun, easy way to keep your thumb green throughout the long winter months. You can also grow herbs and other succulents as houseplants. Plus, you can nurture holiday houseplants, such as amaryllis, Christmas cactus, paperwhites, and poinsettia.

Tis the Season for Brinly’s Push and Tow Spreaders

Don’t put away your Brinly spreaders yet! You can hook up the tow spreader to your garden tractor to put down ice melt on your snowy driveway and walkways.

At Brinly, we have two types of spreaders:

You can use our quality spreaders throughout the entire year—including in winter. Our spreaders are perfect for putting down ice melt or salt.

You can buy your next Brinly push or tow spreader online. If you have any questions about your Brinly spreader, contact our customer service today by dialing 877-728-8224 or filling out our contact form.

Sources:

Garden.org, Winter Care for Your Houseplants.

HuntingforGeorge.com, The 10 Best Winter Houseplants.

MiracleGro.com, How to Grow and Care for Peace Lilies.

Ibid, How to Grow Philodendrons.

TheSpruce.com, How to Grow and Care for Croton Plants.

Ibid, How to Care for Houseplants in the Winter.

TheStrategist.com, The Best Winter Houseplants (And How to Care for Them), According to Experts.